Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.
settled a lawsuit the insurer filed against one of its former
outside lawyers claiming he tried to extort new legal work with
a threat to expose misconduct by an unidentified company
executive.

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Sullivan in Manhattan
ordered the case dismissed after receiving a letter on Sept. 8
from Boston-based Liberty Mutual informing the court that they
had reached an agreement with Michael J. Devereaux and his law
firm Devereaux & Associates, according to a court filing.

Liberty Mutual sued Devereaux in January, saying the New
York lawyer threatened to file a suit claiming the executive had
engaged in “personal misconduct” and demanded a 5 percent
kickback of all fees the company paid the law firm.

“We are pleased that the litigation has been resolved and
that we have concluded our relationship with the Devereaux
firm,” Liberty Mutual said in a statement.